Peanut cooler



March 5, 1963 7 Filed Jan. 20, 1959 M. E. GINAVEN PEANUT COOLER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 BY W ATTOEA/[Y March 5, 1963 M. E. GINAVEN 3,079,705v

' PEANUT COOLER Filed Jan. 20, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 DM W March 5, 1963 Filed Jan. 20, 1959 M. E. GINAVEN 3,079,705

PEANUT COOLER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 DWIWW I 3,079,705 PEANUT COOLER Marvin E. Ginaven, Springfield, Ohio, assignor to The Bauer Bros. (10., Springfield, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed JarLZi 1959, Ser. No. 7$7,S57 2 (Ilaims. (Cl. 34-174) This invention relates to food processing equipment,

and particularly to coolers for nut products or the like iinet type of cooler of the class described in which all of the parts are self-contained and wherein the nut products or the like are subjected to cooling in a generally novel and efiicient manner.

Another object of the invention is to present a cooler adapted to cooperate with other processing equipment in a continuing treatment of food products, and it is a particular object of the invention in this connection to provide automation in the roasting and cooling of nut products using equipment which may stand side by side on the same floor.

A further object of the invention is to provide for seective control of the cooler in such manner that its operations may be intermittent to coordinate with roasting cycles or may be continuous at a variable rate.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cooler possessing the advantageous structural features, the inherent meritorious characteristics and the mode of operation herein mentioned.

With the above and other incidental objects in view as will more fully appear in the specification, the invention intended to be protected by Letters Patent consists of the features of construction, the parts and combinations thereof, and the mode of operation as hereinafter described or illustrated in the accompanying drawings, or their equivalents.

Referring to the accompanying drawing wherein is shown one but obviously not necessarily the only form of embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of a cooler in accordance with the illustrated embodiment of the invention, taken substantially rom the front of the cabinet;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1, taken generally from t..e rear of the cabinet;

FIG. 3 is a view of the cabinet in front elevation, some parts being omitted and a portion of the cabinet wall I being broken away to show the inner cooling compartment; and

FIG. 4 is a detail view showing the gate valve which controls movement of the products for cooling through the cooling compartment made subject to power operation.

Like parts are indicated by similar characters of reference throughout the several views.

Referring to' the drawings, the cooler in accordance "ends.

asters .i atented Mar. 5, 1963 with the illustrated embodiment of the invention assumes the form of a cabinet, floor mounted upon laterally projecting feet 19. The cabinet comprises a central portion or main housing 11, an upper portion or head case 12 and a lower'portion 13 made up essentially of relatively heavy parallel support plates,

The main housing 11 of the cabinet'is fabricated from sheet metal panels suitably joined together to define a generally rectangular enclosure tapered at its upper and lower On the front of the cabinet are access and inspection doors 14. Within the enclosure defined by the walls of housing 11, and located substantially in the middle thereof, is a cooling compartment 15 defined by spaced apart partition walls 16 and 17 both freely perforated for a relatively unrestricted flow of air from side to side of the main cabinet interior through the compartment 15.

At their lower ends the partition walls 16 and 17 extend to the botom of the housing portion 11 of the cabinet. At their upper ends they extend to and through the upper end of portion 11 and into the head case 12, an imperforate section 16a of the partition 16 extending upwardly through the case 12 to the upper end thereof whilean imperforate extension of the partition 17 extends upwardly within the case 12 and terminates at a point be tween the upper and lower ends thereof. The longitudinal side edges of the partitions 16 and 17 extend to and in contact with the front and rear walls of the cabinet portion 11 thus inhibiting a by-passing flow of air in its movement from side to side of the cabinet interior. Such a movement of air 'is' forcibly induced by a large capacity fan 18 mounted to the rear of the cabinet in While the fan 18 may function to blow air through the compartment 15 in the illustrated instance it'operatcs in a reverse sense, drawing outside air into the cabinet through the opening 21 whence it enters and fills the space within the cabinet to one side of the compartment 15, then flows laterally through the compartment into the space on the other side thereof and then out of the cabinet by way of opening 19 and fan 18. In accordance with the mode of operation of the cooler, products to be cooled, in loose bulk form, are introduced into the upper end of the compartment 15 over the upper edge of the extension 17a. The products descend through the compartment 15 by gravity and in such passage are subjected to the cooling influence of the air moving in response to operation of the fan 18. The lower end of the compartment 15 may be suitably sized to regulate discharge of the products in a predetermined relation to their rate of introduction for a controlled movement through the compartment 15. in the illustrated instance, the discharge is regulated by a gate valve 25 which underlies the bottom or lower end of compartment 15 and is reciprocable as a slide across such lower end in a position between the bottom of cabinet portion 11 and the top of base cabinet portion 13. Valve member 25 extends outside the cabinet and on its projecting end is formed with an upstanding portion 26 facilitating manual operation. It will ,tition wall 17a.

. resistance over the full length of the compartment.

be understood in this connection that the gate valve 25, when closed as shown in FIG. 4, blocks flow out of the compartment through its lower end. A retraction of the valve, as by pulling upon the handle portion 26, opens a progressively larger flow area from the bottom of the compartment permitting discharge of the products held therein.

While the cooled food products may be discharged and handled in any convenient manner they are in the illustrated instance fed into a hopper 27 located in the base cabinet portion 13 and in joint underlying relation to the bottom of the cooling compartment and to a conveyor means including a transverse cabinet supported shaft 28, a sprocket wheel 2% and a chain 31 running over the sprocket 29. The chain 31 is continuous, passing also over a sprocket wheel 32 located in the head case 12 at the upper end of the cabinet, which wheel is mounted on a transverse shaft 33. The latter has a worm gear connection with a shaft outside the cabinet and rotated by an electric motor 35. Operation of motor 35, therefore, serves to rotate shaft 33 and thereby to effect a motion of the chain 31 which is continuous with continuing operation of the motor. Attached in a suitable manner to the chain 31 is a series of buckets 36. At the lower end of the path traversed by the chain 31, the buckets 36 pass through the hopper 27 and pick up the cooled food products delivered thereto. Carried by the buckets 36, the cooled food products are conducted upwardly in the cabinet into the head case 12 and then are discharged from the cabinet through an outlet 37 as the buckets pass over the sprocket wheel 32 and are so inverted.

Supply of products to the compartment 15 for cooling also is carried out by conveyor means. At the side of the cabinet opposite outlet 37, and at the lower end of the cabinet, is a hopper 38 receiving the heated food products. The lower part of the hopper 38 extends into the base 13 of the cabinet where it has the form of a duct 39 extending in underlying enclosing relation to a sprocket wheel 41 on a transverse shaft 42.. Another shaft 43 in the upper part of the cabinet mounts a sprocket Wheel 44 and has a driven connection with a further shaft driven by a motor 45. A continuous chain 47 extends between and is fitted over the sprocket wheels 41 and 44 to be driven in response to energizing of the motor 46. On the chain 47 is a series of buckets 48 like the buckets 36. As these buckets pass through the duct 59 they pick up products from the hopper 38 and carry them upwardly in the cabinet to the upper end thereof, and as they pass over the sprocket wheel 44 discharge their contents into the open upper end of the compartment 15 above the parof both motors 35 and 46 is continuous and they are normally started and stopped simultaneously, as through a manual switch box 49.

The cooler is adapted for use in a food processing system and in this regard it will be understood that the food products may be supplied to the hopper 38 intermittently, in batches, or continuously. In either case the supplied material is carried by the described'conveyor means upwardly in the cabinet and introduced into the upper end of compartment 15. In a batch type operation the initial introduction of material into the upper end of the compartment 15 will find the gate valve 25 closed. Discharge from the compartment 15 being thus prevented, the products introduced therein for cooling progressively fill the compartment and as contained there a in are subjected to the cooling effect of the airflow created by fan 18. The air openings 19 and 21 of the cabinet are located in the upper part thereof but channeling or by-passing of the air flow between these openings is inhibited by the food products themselves which in filling the compartment 15 offer a relatively constant air flow The air flow accordingly is distributed for a substantially uni- In the use of the device, the operation an the cabinet is in condition to receive the next batch.

of products for cooling.

If the gate valve is left open, or adjusted to hold a partly open position, the flow through the compartment 15 will be continuous, an amount discharged from the lower end of the compartment being replaced by a similar amount introduced into the upper end thereof and with the products progressively working their way from the top to the bottom of the compartment and in such progress being continuously cooled.

According to a further concept of the invention, the gate valve 25 may be made subject to a power operation, as through a motor 5t} mounted to the lower part of the cabinet by a bracket 51. The motor shaft rotates a crank .52 and through a connecting rod 53 effects powered opening and closing movements of the gate valve. The motor 59 is suitably controlled to open the valve for emptying of the compartment 15 immediately prior to the supplying of hopper 33 with a fresh batch of heated products.

compartment, in preparation to receive and hold a new batch of products for cooling therein.

From the above description it will be apparent that there is thus provided a device of the character described possessing the particular features of advantage before enumerated as desirable, but which obviously is susceptible of modification in its form, proportions, detail construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the principle involved or sacrificing any of its advantages.

While in order to comply with the statute the invention has been described in language more or less specific as to structural features, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific features shown, but that the means and construction herein disclosed comprise but one of several modes of putting the invention into effect, and the invention is therefore claimed in any of its forms or modifications within the legitimate and valid scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A self contained cooler unit for peanuts and the like comprising, cabinet means forming a shell defining an enclosure, a pair of central generally parallel perforate plate means extending vertically of and in bridging relation to said shell to form spaced hollow chambers to either side thereof, means defining an opening in said shell to one of said spaced chambers, means defining a second opening in the shell to the other of said spaced chambers, means for introducing peanuts to said shell adjacent the bottom of one of said spaced chambers, means in the last mentioned of said spaced chambers to pick up peanuts introduced to said shell and carry them upwardly of said shell to introduce them between said spaced perforate plate means at the top thereof, means to the bottom of said spaced perforate plate means for receiving the peanuts and lifting them through the other of said spaced chambers for discharge from the top of said shell, suction means mounted to said shell over the opening to one of said chambers operative to draw air through the opening to the other of said chambers to fill said other chamber and be filtered through said perforate plate means and the peanuts therebetween.

2. A self contained cooling unit for peanuts and the like comprising cabinet means forming a shell defining an enclosure, a pair of generally parallel perforate wall elements extending vertically of and in bridging relation to said shell to form spaced hollow chambers to either side thereof, means defining an opening in said shell to one of said spaced chambers, means defining a second opening in said shell to the other of said spaced chambers, hopper means at the bottom of said shell opening into said one of said spaced chambers, continuous conveyor means in said one spaced chamber in communication with said hopper means to pick up peanuts delivered therethrough, carry them to the top of said shell and dump them between said perforate wall elements for movement the length thereof, conveyor means in said other of said spaced chambers Operative to pick up peanuts delivered from between said perforate wall elements at their bottom and convey them to the top of said other spaced chamber for delivery therefrom, suction means mounted to said shell over the opening to one of said 6 spaced chambers operative to draw air through the opening to the other of said chambers to fill said other chamber and filter through said perforate wall elements and the peanuts therebetween.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 936,011 Meyer Oct. 5, 1909 10 2,045,319 Watrous June 23, 1936 2,069,193 Behr et a1. Jan. 26, 1937 

1. A SELF CONTAINED COOLER UNIT FOR PEANUTS AND THE LIKE COMPRISING, CABINET MEANS FORMING A SHELL DEFINING AN ENCLOSURE, A PAIR OF CENTRAL GENERALLY PARALLEL PERFORATE PLATE MEANS EXTENDING VERTICALLY OF AND IN BRIDGING RELATION TO SAID SHELL TO FORM SPACED HOLLOW CHAMBERS TO EITHER SIDE THEREOF, MEANS DEFINING AN OPENING IN SAID SHELL TO ONE OF SAID SPACED CHAMBERS, MEANS DEFINING A SECOND OPENING IN THE SHELL TO THE OTHER OF SAID SPACED CHAMBERS, MEANS FOR INTRODUCING PEANUTS TO SAID SHELL ADJACENT THE BOTTOM OF ONE OF SAID SPACED CHAMBERS, MEANS IN THE LAST MENTIONED OF SAID SPACED CHAMBERS TO PICK UP PEANUTS INTRODUCED TO SAID SHELL AND CARRY THEM UPWARDLY OF SAID SHELL TO INTRODUCE THEM BETWEEN SAID SPACED PERFORATE PLATE MEANS AT THE TOP THEREOF, MEANS TO THE BOTTOM OF SAID SPACED PERFORATE PLATE MEANS FOR RECEIVING THE PEANUTS AND LIFTING THEM THROUGH THE OTHER OF SAID SPACED CHAMBERS FOR DISCHARGE FROM THE TOP OF SAID SHELL, SUCTION MEANS MOUNTED TO SAID SHELL OVER THE OPENING TO ONE OF SAID CHAMBERS OPERATIVE TO DRAW AIR THROUGH THE OPENING 